State equality and discrimination bills
Iowa
In Sioux City, Iowa, in the wake of the murder of a boy, 29 men suspected of homosexuality are committed to mental asylums as a “preventive measure.”
United States LGBT History for 1955
National
James Baldwin is a writer that produced an essay exploring intricacies of racial, sexual, and class distinctions in mid-20th-century America. “Physique Pictorial” the first male magazine in the United States was founded by Bob Mizer.
National
“Physique Pictorial” the first male magazine in the United States was founded by Bob Mizer.
President Dwight Eisenhower
Alabama
Gay African-American activist Bayard Rustin visits Montgomery, Alabama, during the midst of the bus boycott sparked by civil rights activist Rosa Parks’ refusal to surrender her seat to a white man. The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., has emerged as a leader in the protest, and Rustin instructs King and other activists in the techniques of civil disobedience, which becomes a chief tactic of the Civil Rights Movement.
California
In San Francisco, the Daughters of Bilitis becomes the first lesbian rights organization in the United States. The organization hosts social functions, providing alternatives to lesbian bars and clubs, which are frequently raided by police. Originally the group had only eight members, but over the years, the group grew considerably. The Daughters of Bilitis provided a place for lesbians to meet, document their lives, and promote civil rights. One of their most significant achievements was a national newsletter for lesbians, The Ladder. Several other U.S. chapters were started, and one in Australia. However, members of the Daughters of Bilitis were split as to what the organization should focus their energies on, and this caused the publishing group of The Ladder to move to another location, and focus on feminist issues rather than gay issues. The organization never recovered from this, and the individual chapters soon died out.
California
Allen Ginsberg, a leading figure in the Beat Generation, performs the literary landmark Howl at the Six Gallery in San Francisco. Ginsberg’s work breaks with long-established literary tradition in both form and subject matter ,prominently featuring run-on sentences discussing drug use, homosexuality and a generation alienated by the period’s relentless emphasis on conformity.
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